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No, the west didn't "push" eastern European kleptocrats into stealing everything in the privatisation drives, they didn't need any outside encouraging.

Its really disconcerning how many people simply assume that small nations have no agency whatsoever. It's this kind of thinking that births ideas about Russian/American zones of influence around Europe and similar very dangerous antiquated nonsense.

It need to die.

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Oh, we did get (and still do get) lots of „consultants“ from West advising us to privatise all the things. Some paid by West governments, some paid by private funds (= big businesses).

As for zones of influence... It is very real. That's why we jumped into NATO at first opportunity. A lot of companies were privatised looking for capital from, e.g., specifically USA, to make sure they have more interest in our survival. And any Russian investment is seen as a possible risk.

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